Devotion for August 5

Pastor Mike Foss is out of the office for the next few weeks, so other staff members will be writing the devotion in his absence.  This week’s devotion was written by St. Mark Lutheran Church’s Director of Youth Ministries, Jake Bouma.

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“Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator.” Colossians 3:9-10

With a new year of programming just around the corner (gasp!), the planning team and I have been doing lots of thinking about the nuts and bolts of confirmation. There is one issue, though, that refuses to stop rattling around in my head: Baptism. Specifically, what does it mean to live into your baptism? How is it possible that a one-time event can perpetually transform us?

It is not difficult to see how the above passage from Colossians influenced Martin Luther’s thoughts in regards to baptism. In his Large Catechism, which is broken into five sections, Luther spends the entire fourth section discussing the concept, theology, and practice of baptism. Towards the end of the section, Luther writes, ”Baptism [is] simply the slaying of the old Adam and the resurrection of the new man, both of which actions must continue in us our whole life long. Thus a Christian life is nothing else than a daily baptism, once begun and ever continued.” 

His gender exclusivity aside, Luther is employing Colossians 3:9-10 to make the case that baptism involves a daily recognition of the significance of our baptism, and from that recognition to make a choice between the “old self” and the “new self”. These two competing selves are described in toto in Colossians 3, providing us followers of Christ with a means to gauge our transformation from “old” to “new”.

Lest we believe that the process is ever complete, Luther reminds us that baptism is a daily event, one that Christians in general and myself in particular would do well to embrace. “The old man,” he says, “therefore follows unchecked the inclinations of his nature if he is not restrained and suppressed by the power of Baptism. On the other hand, when we become Christians, the old man daily decreases until he is finally destroyed. This is what it means to plunge into Baptism and daily come forth again.”

Will you take the plunge with me?

Devotion for July 29

Pastor Mike Foss is out of the office for the next few weeks, so other staff members will be writing the devotion in his absence.  This week’s devotion was written by St. Mark Lutheran Church’s Director of Discipleship, Brandon Mick.

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And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him.  Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.  Colossians 2:6-7

Abbey and I recently moved into a beautiful home, which we rent from her sister and her husband. There are two apple trees in the backyard. One remains in the place where my brother-in-law first planted it. The other was moved to a different corner of the yard, after he decided he had placed it in the wrong spot.

For those of us who spend a lot of our time in areas entirely covered by streets, sidewalks, parking lots, and malls, it is sometimes harder to recognize the profound beauty in saying that we are to be “rooted” in Jesus Christ. The Bible is full of rich agricultural imagery like this, so we city- or suburb-dwellers would do well to pause and reflect upon it.

Think about how much a tree depends upon its roots. They hold it into the soil to keep it from falling over. The roots reach down to tap the soil, the tree’s source of life. Depending on the depth and strength of its root system, a tree will be either healthy or sickly. The tree will either live or die.

“Let your roots grow down into Him”

Our roots in Jesus give us strength and hold us from falling. It is He who is our source of life. Depending on how deep and strong our roots are that go down into Christ, our lives will either be spiritually healthy or spiritually sickly. We will either provide evidence of God’s life in Jesus Christ, or we will reflect the truth of the consequences of Sin, which is death.

The tree in our backyard whose roots have been damaged by shovel and the shock of moving is no longer alive. The one whose roots have remained secure in the earth is doing well. And not only is it alive, it has abundant life. Although it is young, it has already begun to produce fruit! The apples are small and yet developing, but that they are fruit is undeniable.

When our lives are rooted in Christ, we will have abundant life. That is to say, our lives will produce fruit. Being rooted in Christ, being strengthened and nourished by Him, produces in our lives, visible and tangible fruit. Paul gives us a good list of this fruit in Galatians 5:

Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

The deeper and stronger our lives are in Christ, the more our lives will reflect Christ’s life by exhibiting what we call “The Fruits of the Spirit.” And this is not our own doing. It is the gift of the Spirit as we accept the gift of Christ as Lord.

And our response is overflowing thankfulness!

Amen.